Tasaka's Wall

A little bit of island history. This is a fairly new addition to the boardwalk and I've been wanting to take a photo of it. Hard to read on the photo, so I typed it for anyone who might be interested in reading it. As far as I know, none of Tasaka's descendants still live here. I haven't seen the kiln mentioned and must investigate. I will post a photo of the wall under the boardwalk. I should have taken one today for an extra. Instead, the extra is of a woman taking a selfie with the view down the harbour as the background.
Isaburo Tasaka was 22 years old when he left his home on Sashima Island, Japan. Among the first wave of Japanese pioneers, he travelled by steamship to Oregon in 1893. Tasaka established a profitable business exporting salted salmon to Japan from Steveston, BC. He and his young wife Yorie moved to Salt Spring island in 1905.
The Tasakas lived on their homestead in Ganges Village near the Old Creamery and raised fifteen children the family made a living by fishing during the summers and making charcoal in the off-season. The Tasakas returned to Japan in 1935 with their four youngest children to run the family estate.
A restoration process was begun in 2015 on one of the two charcoal kilns that Tasaka had built. Located near the entrance to Mouat Park, it is unique in its design. Tasaka sold his charcoal to fish canneries, a soap factory and to W.A. McAfee at the blacksmith shop on Salt Spring Island.
Tasaka was a skilled builder of traditional Japanese dry-stone walls. This type of wall is very resilient and was used in building Japanese fortresses. In the late 1920’s Mouat Brothers Ltd. commissioned Task to construct a retaining wall beneath Mouat’s Store using this technique. A section of the wall still endures, directly under the boardwalk where you stand. 

Photos l-r: Isaburo Tasaka; Kazuichi Tasaka stands by the wall built by his grandfather; Tasaka also built a seawall that ran along the harbour front to the present-day Fire Hall.